E11"Becoming the Antidote to the Poison in Humanity - Salvation for the Here and Now”

What if salvation wasn’t just about the afterlife—but about healing humanity right now? In this episode of Spiritual Hot Sauce, Chris Jones explores the Gospel through a powerful new lens. From the logos in John 1 to the story of Adam, Eve, and the fruit of good and evil, this message unveils the “poison” that has shaped human morality—and the “antidote” found in the teachings and love of Christ. Through the parable of the Good Samaritan and the commandment of Christ to love as He loved, discover how discipleship transforms us into active participants in humanity’s healing.
Explore how the light overcomes darkness, how love replaces law, and how we can all become the antidote to the poison.

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Episode 11 of “Spiritual Hot Sauce” by Chris Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:07

Welcome. I'm Chris Jones. This is where believers and skeptics alike are invited to embark on a journey of faith, philosophy, and life from a different perspective. Whether we are joined by an insightful guest, or we just jump into the deep end, this exploration promises to challenge us all. Are we getting it right? This is Spiritual Hot Sauce. Today I want to talk about the gospel, the good news, salvation, but from a different perspective in a way that you've probably never heard of before. And what does it mean that we're saved? Saved from what? Today I hope to separate the actual message itself from religion and show it to you in a different perspective, a different light that allows you to see hope and allows you to see it in a way that speaks to life here and now, not just to us, but all humanity. It's a beautiful message, and I think if we understood it correctly for what it is, then we'd all be striving to get to what it speaks of. So I'm going to do something I typically never do on here, but I'm going to actually read from the Bible. Please, for those of you that are outside of the faith, just if you'll allow me this, I think at the end you'll appreciate everything we've done through the process. But it says in John chapter 1, verses 1 through 5, it's in the prologue of John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him. Apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. All right, so what's this talking about in the beginning? I think it's talking about in the beginning. I think it's talking about initial singularity or the big bang, the birth of universe, however you want to say it, but I think it's talking about at that moment, at that beginning. And when I think of that beginning as God creating the universe, I don't think of him as creating it incrementally in little micro steps and doses and changing every little detail. I think of it more as a seed in germination. If you think about a seed, how it goes into the ground, and when it germinates, it bursts forward with life. And it's everything that's going to be is in that moment as it evolves and changes and starts becoming. And that's how I see the universe, that it's in this moment it's talking about is the germination and everything that it's ever going to be or become, you, me, all of us, we are also in that. And it's saying that in that moment of germination, as the universe bursts forward with this life, this self-perpetuating machine made out of organic and inorganic material, that God sees there's going to be an issue with us. Because later on in that scripture, it says that man will be overtaken by the dark, which makes it sound like we're not going to make it. But he has this logos. Now I say logos because in the scripture it says word, but in the original language it says logos. When we hear logos, people from the religious background typically hear a very literal translation, like the Bible is logos. But in chapter one, it is telling us that Jesus is logos. And in logos in the Greek, it means the word of more as an embodying an idea. It's almost conceptual. And it is saying that in the beginning, I think God knew there was going to be an issue with us. So he added something in there of higher thought, higher principle, as an embodying an idea in the very beginning. And then at the right time, this logos from God would come to us. And then this logos would be life that uses the word Zoe in the original language. And we always hear Zoe and life in this kind of religious way as not here and now, but after we die. But Zoe actually translates as life here and now as well as after we die. So it's speaking like that God knows there's going to be a problem in the future with us, and we're going to be overtaken by the dark, and we're not going to make it. But God loves us and He wants us to make it. He wants us to survive. We're His creation. So He has this embodying an idea, this higher thought, His logos. And His logos at a specified time in humanity's history will emerge bringing light. And this light will overcome the dark. And in this light will be life. And this life will be the salvation of humanity. So what's the dark it's talking about? And what's the light? I think in order for us to get to those two answers, we have to start in the other origin story from Genesis, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That from a tree of knowledge of good and evil, a serpent would give us a fruit, that is the poison of humanity. It's in the ideology of how we define good and evil. Now, when you hear fruits, it's talking about the results of our behaviors, it's our attributes, it's how we impact others around us in humanity. And it's saying that how we define good and evil from the very beginning, that ideology has always been what has poisoned humanity and led us down a path to the dark. Now it goes on to give us this imagery that from a tree, Jesus would give us this fruit that is the antidote to that poison. Again, when you hear fruit, it is the results of behaviors. In this case, it's talking about the tree or the crucifixion. So it's talking about Jesus' ministry or the reason why he was sent by God, this logos, the fulfillment and completion of bringing us the behaviors and the results, a new ideology, the antidote to the poison. So I want to open this up a little bit and talk about this so we get a better understanding of what I mean about this poison of humanity and the antidote to the poison. But in episode four and five, I went into a whole lot more depth than what I'm about to go into. So if you want to learn more about how we've defined good, wrong from the beginning of us, and how that has poisoned humanity, then go back and check it out. But in this story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is asked, How do I inherit eternal life, or Zoe? And Jesus asked them, How do you read it? And they quote Leviticus 19, 18, to love thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus says, You're correct. Do this and you'll live. But then the person asked Jesus to define neighbor. And I guess they're thinking he's going to define it by how close do you live to me in proximity? Are you my neighbor versus someone in the same town or the same city, or you become an outsider or someone else? And Jesus doesn't define it by geographical location. Jesus just goes into the story. Jesus tells about this man traveling on this road from Jericho to Jerusalem. And robbers jump him and they beat him really bad, and they take from him everything: his belongings, his clothes, his animals, and they leave him on the side of the road in distress. I mean, he's in trouble. And then it says a priest comes by and he sees the man, but he doesn't stop. He keeps going. And then a Levite comes and he sees the man, but he doesn't stop. He keeps going. But then it says a Samaritan, he's coming by and he sees the man and he has compassion. And he goes to the man and he puts him on his own animal, takes him to an inn, and tells the innkeeper, I'll pay the bill of whatever it is when I come back, just please nurture him back to health. And then Jesus asked the man who asked him, How do I inherit eternal life? from the perspective of the man on the side of the road in distress, who would he say his neighbor is? And the man says, the one that did good. Jesus says, You're correct. Do this and you shall live. But what Jesus does in this story is he lays out how we define social construct as good and evil or right and wrong. So he shows that most of us define good by obeying the laws. By not hurting other people, we are doing good. And Jesus shows in that story that that's not true. We are simply just refraining from hurting other people. And that isn't by default doing good. That just means you're obeying the laws of social construct. The Levite and the Levite priest would never hurt anybody, but they weren't doing good for anybody either. They were just obeying the law. That doing good means you lean outward outside of the laws, and people that have need on your path, not geographical location of where they live, but where they are at and to your proximity when they have need defines neighbor. So in this parable, Jesus has identified the poison that we talked about that comes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and how we've misidentified what good is. And it has become the poison in humanity, the suffering, the cancer that manifests in us, because our idea of good comes from social construct of refrain from hurting other people. And Jesus is saying, that is the dark. Now let's talk about Jesus from a tree, would give us a fruit that is the antidote to the poison. And John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. Jesus has completed everything that we talked about as bringing Logos to us, Him being Logos. This is the Last Supper, it's right before he goes to the cross. This is the last thing he really does. And he tells his disciples, he has never given them a commandment up to this point. And it is here and now at the end that he finally speaks and gives them the commandment. And he says, This is my commandment, is that you love one another, is that you love one another as I have loved you. By this the world will know you're my disciple. Later on, after the crucifixion story and the resurrection story, the last thing he tells them before he leaves is go and make other disciples. It's in this discipleship that we'll find the antidote to the poison that he's talking about. See, a disciple becomes just like the master. In other words, Jesus is saying, I want you to be just like me, but not in the way that I wear my hair, or the clothes that I wear, or where I live, or the food I eat, or the language I speak, but I want you to be discipled and be just like me in my love. I want you to love how I loved. This is what will define you as my disciple. It's not defined by emotions, it's defined by action. Jesus gives us the Good Samaritan, which is a demonstration of how to love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus says, Did you see how I loved? This is the definition. This is the example. This is what I want you to do. And by you becoming my disciple, you are becoming the antidote to the poison. How did Jesus love? Jesus gave on need, not deserve. He healed people, he fed people, he helped people, he loved people, but he didn't do it based on deserve. Deserve had nothing to do with it. I hear often that, hey, Jesus ate with sinners. Sinners versus what? I mean, I don't think Jesus seen us as sinners. I think what Jesus saw us as humanity, and that we were poisoned. And he was trying to bring an antidote to the poison and save us and get us on a different path that would take us to life and heal humanity. I think that's why Jesus was here to heal humanity and help us. I don't think Jesus was telling us to just sacrifice everything and make ourselves a doormat in this kind of servitude. We are told to be servants, but not as a doormat. See, it also gives us this imagery and says that Jesus was the second Adam. What was the first Adam? A steward. So Jesus is a good steward. What does that mean? So if you are in my stewardship and you are hungry, you need to be able to feed yourself, feed yourself, take care of it. But if you can't, then your hunger becomes my hunger. And then I will treat your hunger as my hunger. If you are hurting, if you are sick and you can't take care of it, then that becomes my sickness, and I will treat it like it's my sickness and I'll take care of it. That's the stewardship. That's the love. That's the discipleship of Christ. That you give to others what they can't give to themselves when they have need. Not sacrificing yourself and throwing yourself on your own sword. That's not what it's talking about. It's talking about loving others as yourself, as in stewardship. That if you are hungry and you can't feed yourself, then I'll feed you. If you're hurting and you can't get to the doctor, then I will see your pain as my pain and I will get you to the doctor. I'll take care of it. So just like the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan didn't stop and give up their life to just go and do this. They had a path too. They had a job in life. They had a life, and that that's fine. Go live your life. But when you have these opportunities to do good, and someone's on the side of the road hurting, or someone comes along in your path that has need, then you will take care of it as you would your own. Because that's the commandment of Christ. I say this often, and this is exactly what I mean right now. There is a difference in being a worshiper of the deity of Christ in that religion versus becoming a disciple of Christ. See, in the religion, you can take the commandment of Christ. You can take what Jesus did and you can put it on this pedestal. And then you can thank God and worship God for Him giving you the antidote to the poison. But you can do that without ever taking the antidote to the poison, and then you yourself becoming the antidote to the poison. You are simply just a worshiper of the deity of Christ. And you could even be manifesting the poison. A disciple takes the antidote, becomes the antidote, and then changes the world. Currently, there's 2.3 billion people that identify as Christians worldwide, which is about 29 to 31% of the global population. That's nearly a third. What would happen if every one of those believers would become a disciple and become the antidote to the poison? We could change the world. Thanks for joining me here on Spiritual Hot Sauce. I'd love to hear from you. So please reach out with questions, comments, andor concerns. And don't forget to like, subscribe, and review us. You can follow us on Facebook for updates and information. And if you enjoy the flavor of the sauce, then please share with others. I would appreciate that. We'll see you next time.